Recording Setups for iPad

While the iPad has a nice microphone that records decent quality audio, I have been wanting to explore the possibility of getting even better audio using some of the external microphones I already own, such as the Snowball from Blue. The Snowball works great with Garageband for iOS, provided you have the proper adapters to connect the mic to the iPad. In order to connect the mic to my iPad mini with Retina display I needed an Apple Camera Connection Kit as well as a Lighting to 30-pin adapter. Both of these I already owned, but if you don’t have them already they can be purchased at any Apple store. Some electronics stores such as Best Buy also carry them.

When you launch Garageband with the Snowball plugged in and select the Audio Recorder as your instrument, Garageband will actually let you know if you are using the external USB mic to record (just look in the text box to the right of the VU meter.

As much as I love the Snowball, I wanted to have a more portable solution that I could take with me if I wanted to record while on the road. After doing some research online, I think I found a really nice setup consisting of the following parts that I purchased on Amazon:

The IK iRig PRE is the key to the setup. It provides power to the XLR microphone by way of a 9 volt battery and connects to the iPad through the headphone jack. I can then connect my headphones to the iRig PRE if I want to be able to listen in while I record.

This setup also works well if you are blind and want to create recordings with Garageband while using VoiceOver, as you can hear the VoiceOver speech with your headphones and still use the microphone to record. Garageband has excellent support for VoiceOver and it allows recordings to be posted directly to SoundCloud from within the app. I created the following recordings to show the difference in quality between the three different options for recording: built-in mic, Blue Snowball, and Behringer mic connected with iRig PRE. All of the recordings were made using VoiceOver and Garageband on the iPad.

First, the built-in microphone on the iPad:

Next we have the Blue Snowball connected to the iPad through a Camera Connection kit.

Finally, we have the Behringer XLR mic connected to the iPad with the iRig pre using the headphone jack.

To me, I think the Snowball sounded the best, but it is not very portable due to its weird shape and weight.

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

Published by Luis Pérez, Ph. D.

Luis Pérez is an inclusive learning consultant based in St. Petersburg, Florida. He has more than a decade of experience working with educators to help them integrate technology in ways that empower all learners. Luis holds a doctorate in special education and a master’s degree in instructional technology from the University of South Florida, and he is the author of Mobile Learning for All: Supporting Accessibility with the iPad, from Corwin Press. Luis has been honored as an Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) in 2009, and as Google in Education Certified Innovator in 2014. He is also a TouchCast and Book Creator Ambassador. Luis currently serves as the Professional Learning Chair of the Inclusive Learning Network of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), which recognized him as its 2016 Outstanding Inclusive Educator. His work has appeared in publications such Teaching Exceptional Children, Closing the Gap Solutions, THE Journal, and The Loop Magazine. In addition to his work in educational technology, Luis is an avid photographer whose work has been featured in Better Photography magazine, Business Insider, the New York Times Bits Blog and the Sydney Morning Herald. Luis has presented at national and international conferences such as South by Southwest EDU, ISTE, CSUN, ATIA and Closing the Gap.
View all posts by Luis Pérez, Ph. D.

For a similar form factor to the Behringer mic, but with very high sound quality, check out the Audio-Technica AT2020USB mic. It connects through your camera connection kit. It has a headphone out so you can monitor your recordings. It is also very affordable and even works connected to my iPhone 4s. It gets very good reviews from Voiceover pros and other pros.

I actually made a mistake when I posted a comment earlier. The mic I have is the Audio-Technica ATR2100 This is the dynamic usb mic that AT sells. It’s still a great deal at $55 and sounds fantastic, compares favorably to the shure sm58, Heil pro30 which is a super fine mic.